How to Safely Clean A Grill or Barbecue

Common wire brushes used to clean grilling surfaces can pose a very concerning risk when the bristles come loose. Here are my quick and easy ways to safely clean a grill and avoid this unnecessary danger.

Today we’re going to be talking about how to safely clean a grill or BBQ, or rather, how not to clean these precious pieces of backyard equipment to make sure that you keep your family safe. And then we’ll have some better alternatives of course! 🙂

I read this little bit of information recently and it just made me say “Wow! That makes so much sense! Why have I never even considered this before?” and also “Eek!”

There was some discussion from doctors in a few different areas saying that they recommend never ever using those metal-bristled grill brushes to clean your BBQ. Yeah, you know the ones. The ones that everyone in the world has hanging right next to their grill on the back deck that they use to clean off all the extra food stuck to their grill at least a few times a week during the summer. Yup, we have one too, so don’t feel bad!

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A Growing Danger

More often than you would think, these metal bristles can come off of the brush during a vigorous cleaning session and end up stuck on to the cooking surface of your grill. The next time you go to cook up some burgers, or some nice grilled veggies, these bristles can get stuck onto the food and get accidentally eaten. The problem is that since the bristles are so thin, they’re easy to miss if they’re stuck on the side of grilled food, and they’re equally as difficult to see for the doctor who’s job it is to remove them from the poor person’s throat who accidentally eats one of those sharp little bristles!

Not a pretty pictures at all, I know. It’s definitely something that I’m going to think about though when I clean my grill from now on, and something that I thought I needed to let you know about too before you start creating your grilled masterpieces this weekend!

So what can you do to clean your grill now that those metal brushes are out of the picture?

How to Safely Clean a Grill

Well, first of all, the best thing to use for everyday removal of various charred bits is just a plain, crumpled up ball of aluminum foil. Of course, you can’t just grab it and brush it back and forth over the grill, so use some long-handled tongs to grip it at a comfortable distance from the heat.

Speaking of heat, heat should really be your first plan of attack when it comes to cleaning your grill. If you run it really hot for a few minutes after you’re done cooking, it will pretty much clean itself and most of the food bits will just burn up and fall off on their own.

It’s also a good idea to deep clean your grill grates, and your whole BBQ really, a few times a season to give you a fresh start. So not just at the beginning of the season to get off all the old grease that you let sit there all winter long. 🙂 There are a lot of different grill cleaning products available on the market these days, or you can even use a steam-cleaner to help power away anything that you weren’t able to get off with your regular cleaning.

Stay Safe

I’ve actually used balls of aluminum foil to clean quite a few different things in the past with great results so this is definitely one of those “Hey, why didn’t I think of that?” moments for me. If you’ve been using one of those metal brushes like we have, you may want to switch to the aluminum foil method too, just to be on the safe side. I definitely don’t want anyone in my family to spend any more time in the ER than they have to, so I think eliminating this one little risk is a no brainer for me!

How to you safely clean a grill? Do you have any other grill cleaning methods that you like to use that allow you to stay away from the (now) dreaded metal-bristled brush?

If you have a moment, pin this little bit of info on Pinterest, or share it on Facebook to let your friends and family know about this totally avoidable BBQing danger!

Comments

Yikes! I ditched ours last year when I saw the bristles coming off! Scared me to bits. I use a spray bottle with water in it to clean the grill while it’s still really hot. It works like a steam cleaner . Happy safe weekend!

Yup! I’ve had a couple of those pieces get stuck in my teeth over the years. I read a story about a man who ended up in the ER because of one of those. There is a healthier version of the scrub brush, but i can’t remember what it is. I think it looks like a metal scrubby on the end of a handle but the scrubby part is one long coiled piece of metal, so no small pieces to come off.

My nephew was using a metal brush wheel on his drill and a piece flew into his drink through the straw! It got all the way into his intestines and punctured his intestines. He nearly died before they figured out the culprit!

Oh wow. That’s terrible! I’m so glad they finally figured it out, but that’s such an unbelievable ordeal! He probably thought he was being really cautious too by having his drink mostly covered. Thanks so much for letting us know about that too! That’s something that could happen to any of us who spend a lot of time working in a workshop/garage environment.